Tim Kolupanowich

The New York Islanders are showing everyone what kind of team they have the potential to be in the near future. With the exception of Game 1 when the Islanders were blown out of the CONSOL Energy Center by a final score of 5-0, they have matched the Pens goal-for-goal and outshot the top-ranked team in the Eastern Conference 78-58 in Games 2 and 3. If they were playing against any other team, they could easily be leading the series.

With fewer than eight months until the puck drops on the Olympic hockey tournament in Sochi, Russia on February 8, 2014, it is still undecided whether or not NHL players will be making the trip to represent their home countries. The NHL along with the International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation have been making progress, but work still remains to be done, mainly hammering out details on travel and insurance, to see whether or not NHL players will participate as they have done since 1998.

Sidney Crosby was on pace to put forth one of the most impressive campaigns of his career – which, knowing the level of quality we’ve seen from him over the better part of the past decade, says a lot. One errant shot to the face later and the superstar is on the sidelines nursing a broken jaw. Will Crosby’s absence take him out of the running for the Hart Trophy? It shouldn’t.

When former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson traded Rick Nash to the New York Rangers last summer, the move was expected to add an element they were sorely lacking. What wasn’t expected was that it would be Columbus netting a return of forwards Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, defenseman Tim Erixon and a first-round pick in this year’s entry draft, who would ultimately get the better of the deal.

Toronto’s Nazem Kadri has finally found his niche in the NHL and Chicago is being led by the new-and-improved Patrick Kane, but Edmonton Oilers center Sam Gagner may have made the biggest strides as a player this season. Has the 23-year-old veteran finally turned the corner and developed into one of the game’s elite?